Three Bulldogs Selected to NCAA Singles/Doubles Championships, Another As Alternate
May 04, 2021 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – Just a day after receiving its 10th consecutive bid to the NCAA Team Championship, the Mississippi State men's tennis team received more good news Tuesday, with three Bulldogs being selected to the 2021 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships (and another as an alternate), to be held May 23-28 in Orlando, Florida, at the USTA National Campus.
Senior All-American Giovanni Oradini and veteran Florian Broska each earned at-large selections to the 64-player NCAA Singles Championship, while true freshman Nemanja Malesevic was named the seventh alternate to that draw. Broska and partner Gregor Ramskogler also qualified as an at-large team for the 32-team NCAA Doubles Championship.
The three-time All-American Oradini will be making his third appearance in the NCAA Singles field. Currently ranked 19th nationally, the Rovereto, Italy, product reached the Round of 16 in the tournament as a sophomore in 2018 and bettered that by a round in 2019, advancing to the quarterfinals. Oradini earned his third consecutive All-SEC honor this season with a Second Team nod. With an excellent year at the No. 1 position, he is 11-7 there in dual match play, and 11-10 overall with six ranked victories, five in the Top 50. Oradini is currently ranked seventh at State in all-time career singles wins with 93.
The fourth-year Bulldog Broska will be making his first career showing in the NCAA singles draw. After earning a career-high ranking of No. 41 on April 14 (currently No. 48), the Eitelborn, Germany, native is 17-14 overall in 2020-21, 14-8 dual matches at the No. 1 and 2 positions, and leads the Bulldogs in total dual match wins this spring with 27. He has five ranked triumphs to his credit this year and his efforts earned him All-SEC Second Team laurels as well.
Malesevic is the No. 7 alternate to the singles championship. This season has been nothing short of excellent for the rookie. In addition to leading all Bulldogs in overall wins (35) in 2020-21, he also leads the squad in dual match singles action with a 15-7 mark as well as a team-best 7-5 SEC record. Hailing from Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malesevic was named to the 2021 SEC All-Freshman team.
In doubles, Broska and Ramskogler will be MSU's lone representation in this year's NCAA Doubles draw and it will be the first career appearance for either Bulldog. The tandem is currently ranked a career-best 15th in the country together. The duo is 11-6 overall this year with five ranked victories to their credit, three in the Top 25. They have won seven of their last 11 contests entering NCAA action, including big wins that helped MSU clinch the doubles point against No. 18 Alabama and No. 1 Florida in the SEC Tournament.
Draws for both tournaments will be released later this month, prior to the start of the singles and doubles championships in Orlando.
No. 16 Mississippi State will actually travel to Orlando this Saturday to face No. 41 Miami in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Team Championship at 10 a.m. CT. Joining the Bulldogs and Hurricanes at the 1st/2nd Round site are the No. 9 national seed host UCF and Monmouth. The Knights and Hawks will battle in the other first round matchup at 1 p.m. CT Saturday. The winners of the two Saturday matches will compete on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT for the right to advance to the NCAA Round of 16, which will also be in Orlando on May 17.
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